In physical rehabilitation, remediation of a motor movement impairment or a developmental disability is a slow, tedious, and expensive process. Therapists may achieve remediation through supervising repeated patient exercises, with "damping" (resistance to enhance muscle development) provided manually by the therapist. Such "damping" is sometimes aided by simple mechanical devices such as weights.
A critical aspect of this process is accuracy of the repeated movements. Inaccurate movements inhibit learning processes and prolong the rehabilitation period. This increases the stress level induced by boredom for the patient and increases demand for the therapist's direct attention. There is therefore a need for a device useful in assisting development of impaired or disabled muscles that will reduce the time for remediation by eliminating inaccurate movements, reduce or eliminate stress and boredom for the patient, and decrease the need for individual attention by the therapist.
Until advent of the present invention, there has been no single product which offers repetition, resistance, and accuracy required for fast and effective remediation without involving excessive individual attention by therapists. Solutions to the problem have only been partially provided by products which supply accuracy with repetition such as stencils and stencil-like products. However, they do not assist with selected reistance to movement. Devices or apparatus that do supply such resistance are typically weights which are attached to the wrist. The primary intent of the weights is to hold the wrist down. They make writing difficult and do nothing to dampen motion of the fingers and hands or to dampen lateral motions.
U.S. Pat. No. 46,827 to Squeir discloses a device for use in developing penmanship or fine scroll work. An apparatus is described for rotating or oscillating a drawing surface beneath an elbow arrangement for guiding the wrist and hand of the user. The arrangement appears to have adjustments to facilitate lateral movement of the elbow arrangement over the drawing surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 389,053 to Brown and U.S. Pat. Nos. 251,206 and 745,100 to Forbush also disclose mechanical apparatus for use in training individuals in penmanship and assist in training or conditioning finger and hand motions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,462 to Karmin discloses a pantograph arrangement by which a teacher may grasp one stylus while a student grasps a remaining stylus mounted in the pantographic linkage. Movement of the teacher's hand is transmitted through the linkage to guide the student's hand. This device and disclosure recognize the problem and provides adequate solutions only where the teacher or therapist's time can be entirely devoted to the individual patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,140 to Dillon et al discloses a teaching machine utilizing servos mechanically attached to a stylus. The servos produce electronic signals that can be recorded and monitored for the purpose of giving audio, visual and kinesthetic feedback. Playback may be simultaneous or the recorded motions may be played back later. The Dillon patent recognizes the need for such a device but does not indicate provisions for offering a selected resistance to such motion for training and developing muscles and coordination of the user's arm, hand and fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,020 to McBratnie discloses another electrical responsive instructional device for children with learning disabilities. This disclosure recognizes the need for a device that will provide for audio reinforcement for correctly following a stenciled pattern with a stylus sensor.
The above references independently recognize individual problems facing the therapist and patient needing training of specific muscle groups, especially in the area of the hand. The problem remains, however, of obtaining some specific apparatus by which fine, medium and gross motor movements of hand or the entire arm, including the hand, may be developed by specifically applied selected resistance to motion ("damping") without requiring other than minimal setup time by a therapist.